It's a Swap Thing...

So, I recently joined a group run by a wonderful friend of mine. The group is a mix of all kinds of stampers who participate in themed swaps. I thought it would be fun to give it a try, as I have never been much of a swapper. I have signed up for several different swaps, and one of them was to make a card using only Black, White and Purple. I hope my 'loose' interpretation of purple is ok. But this card just screamed for Rich Razzleberry, and who am I to deny a card what it wants?

There's a lot on this card that you cannot really see in the pic. The Razz oval is run lightly through a texture plate, and there's tons of sparkle on this card. I used some corners cut with the Big Shot using a set of Sizzlets called Architectual Elements. The flowers are from Embrace Life, two stamped on Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, and the middle one on Watercolor Paper. The middle one is colored with reinker and AquaPainter, blended much lighter in the center. Stickles are on all flowers, and it's showing gold in the pic, but it's truly Diamond Stickles. My Signo Gel Pen got a great workout on this card, and I love how that turned out! A new pen made all the difference, my old one was gloppy.

I hope you all like it. This is one of my faves in a while, and I haven't mailed it yet. I don't think the recipient checks my blog☺ Well, I hope not...LOL!

***Aside from the Sizzlets set and the Stickles, this card is SUO!

March Club Projects...

This month for my hostess club, I created some fun Easter projects. These were so much fun to make, and each one is really simple! We made a gate fold card with the Kisses notes and Well Scripted stamp set, both from the Occasions Mini. The little basket in the front is made with DSP strips, that's it! The larger basket in the back is actually a 6x6 piece of CS, scored at 2" all the way around, then snipped on two sides at the middle section, as if cutting to fold a box. Then, instead of folding the sides all the way up, you angle them. This one is held together with brads, and a nice flower made with a few punches and a Clear Rhinestone brad decorate the front!

---The best part is the Reeses Eggs inside the baskets...I ate quite a few while filling these! They started out a little more filled, I LOVE Reeses!

I am finally ahead of the game on making things for Easter! We've had a really busy couple of weeks here, and I am just glad to have still had time to stamp at all. (Though it happens around midnight...)

We are really ready for Spring to make its grand entrance, and these colors certainly feel springy to me! Hope you like my Easter projects. My wonderful club members seemed to.

CS is all Soft Subtles...DSP is all Tea Party

DIY Flowers....

These are the projects I created for my monthly hostess club to make at our Feb meeting. They went over really well, and all of them are very easy to do! We focused on making our own embellishments this month. We also made buttons, I will get a pic of those up later. Making your own flowers if fun, much less expensive than buying them, and you can be sure they will match your project!

This Valentine is made from Real Red cardstock, run throught the Big Shot with the Scallop Circle 1 die. Whisper White is stamped with a heart from I (Heart) Hearts. Sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, punched with Word Window, glued to Modern Label, and popped on Dimensionals. Rose is made from Real Red Grosgrain (1/2") and the leaves are Garden Green, with Big Shot and Little Leaves Die.

This one is Faux Suede. I LOVE this technique! Who knew simply breaking fibers and peeling apart your cardstock would give you such a soft, beautiful piece, perfect for making flowers! Colors are Green Galore, Melon Mambo, Whisper White. White is punched with NEW Scallop Trim Corner punch. Leaves and flower are 1 1/4 and 1 3/8" circle punches. Finished with a Clear Rhinestone brad.

This flower is made from 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, in this flower, I used So Saffron. It's sewn together down one side of the length, then tied off tightly, giving you a flower that just needs a little fluffing! I enjoy making these! The center is a Build A Brad with Cottage Wall DSP in the center.

I hope you all enjoy these!!! I have really gotten hooked on making 3D items lately, whether it's decor, boxes, embellishments. I will get the buttons uploaded soon! Happy Stamping, until next time!

Chloe's Handmade Valentine's

This is my 5 yr old, Chloe, and her 3 yr old sister, Tara. Not sure what's up with Chloe's goofy grin! These are the Valentine's we sat and made tonight for her Preschool class party tomorrow. We used two images from Pun Fun, and some DCVW cardstock (I think that's what it's called, I only use SU, and let the kids use the other stuff). We stamped the images, and she colored them with SU Color Pencils. I scored and punched holes in these to hold the suckers she picked to give to her friends. Her sister separated the colored ones into piles for me to finish cutting out. We had a lot of fun making these, and I think they are cuter than anything storebought...plus it was a great experience. Below are some more pics!

The boys are getting blue with the Rocket stamp, and the girls are getting pink with the Skunk stamp (that my daughter insists is a squirrel, hence they are brown). The Skunk says 'I stink you're sweet', and the Rocket says 'You're a Blast'. I thought these were perfect for Preschool Valentine's.

The close up. I will be reading her the comments, so if you like what she did, drop a comment for me to share with her. I think she did a good job, and she's only 5!

Blog Makeover...

Hey, everyone!!! I will be back to checking all of your blogs this week. I wanted to let everyone know that I FINALLY got my blog customized with my own creations using My Digital Studio. The background is Designer Paper, Ribbon, and Flowers from the Sweet Pea digi kit from SU, as is the Header, adding punches and buttons from Button Latte. This was much harder than I thought it would be, but that was because I don't have any photo editting software loaded at the moment, whew, never do it without that! I hope you like the look. I am happy with it. Now that I know how to do it, I will get it just how I want it, and will probably decorate it with MDS often!

Just For You, Neighbor!

I am LOVIN' the NEW SaleABration (SAB) brochure! I sat down to play with some of the items I preordered, and came up with this bright and cheerful card! Here in NC, we are experiencing COLD like we don't usually have (in the teens) and I just need a bit of Summer, so I chose some bright colors! This little house set is so cute! It comes with 3 houses, 3 different roofs, a few trees, and a cloud (which also makes nice bushes between the houses). I am going with the Clear Mount option from now on, so that is what this set is, but it is also available in Wood Mount. I stamped these using the In Colors, and punched with the 1 1/4" square, and layered on 1 3/8" squares. I LOVE the new DSP from SAB to go with this set, it's called Welcome Neighbor!

Here's a close shot of the ribbon, my hardware, and the paper! I really like this one, these colors will be sorely missed when they head out! I fall in love with the In Colors every time, though!

CS -- Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Whisper White

Ink -- Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, and Whisper White Craft

DSP -- Welcome Neighbor (SAB)

Punches -- 1 1/4", 1 3/8" Square, Scallop Edge, Scallop Circle

Accessories -- Styled Silver HodgePodge Hardware, Bermuda Bay ribbon

Beautiful Wings...

This was a really quick card, it took 5 minutes or less to throw together! I simply folded some Kraft cardstock, and glued a black layer in the center. Then I ran some of the In Colors through my Big Shot with the NEW Beautiful Wings Embosslit and stick those on some Whisper White cardstock. I added a loop of matching In Color, Polka Dot ribbon behind the coordinating butterfly and stuck that layer over the black with Dimensionals. Stamped (friend to friend) in Basic Black and pierced the corners using the Mat Pack and a Paper Piercer.

CS -- Kraft, Whisper White, Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay.
Ink -- Basic Black
Stamps -- Teeny Tiny Wishes
Accessories -- Big Shot, Embosslit, Ribbon, Mat Pack/Piercer

This card (like most) are SUO. Sorry about the dark pic, I tend to remember to take pics at night, when lighting is horrible. As part of my New Years Resolution, I will work on that!

See you all soon! Happy Stampin'!